by
on
February 27, 2009

To The Editor:

Michael Bernick’s article on A Job for Raymond Babbitt (the ‘Rainman’)
described not only what Raymond and others with developmental
disabilities want, but what everybody seeks: the dignity and self-worth of
a job! The vision of The Arc of SF is a community where disability is a
distinction without a difference. We have a person with perfect attendance
for almost 20 years at Ikon, and another who has been hired by
Salesforce.com as an I.T. support staff making more than his job coach!
People with disabilities face a national unemployment rate of over 70%!
What a waste of human resources! We really are more alike than different,
unless you’re looking for exceptional employees who hardly ever miss work
or others with technical skills far exceeding mine.